New air campaign in Afghanistan is test for Trump strategy in America's longest war

Army Gen. John W. Nicholson, the top commander in Afghanistan, says President Trump's new Afghanistan policy is a game changer, it is fundamentally different than past efforts and that's why he expresses confidence that we are on our way to a win. (Nov. 28)
AP

U.S. soldiers take position as a helicopter lands after 333 special force unit military maneuver in Mohammad Agha district of Logar province, Afghanistan, on Nov. 30, 2017.(Photo: Jawad Jalali, EPA)

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has sharply expanded its air campaign against the Taliban in the first major test of President Trump’s strategy in Afghanistan, a stalemated war now in its 17th year.

The first strikes targeted Taliban drug labs, but those initial attacks are only part of an ambitious effort to use air power to help destroy the Taliban’s finances and militant networks.

“It’s much more of a broad approach,” said Maj. Gen. David Nahom, deputy commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command.

Over the past several years, the U.S. has curtailed air support as it turned over fighting to the Afghan security forces. Under Trump’s plan, Afghan security forces will still be in the lead, but they will be supported by a major U.S. strategic bombing campaign.

Nahom said military planners will develop an array of targets to destroy the Taliban’s leadership and ability to command and control its forces. "This is really the first step," he said.

In August, the Trump administration ordered new authorities that lifted restrictions on what could be targeted. Planners began pouring over intelligence to find targets that would cripple the Taliban’s finances.

“We’re working very hard to gain more understanding of the networks,” Nahom said.

The drug business was a natural place to start. The Pentagon estimates that half the Taliban’s revenues came from the drug trade, allowing the militants to pay fighters and buy weapons. The Taliban “taxes” poppy farmers and also refines the harvest into heroin.

The strikes on drug labs last month cost the Taliban between $7 million and $10 million in lost revenues, the U.S. military command in Afghanistan said.

The number of bombs and other munitions dropped on Taliban targets has already tripled this year, according to Gen. John Nicholson, the top coalition commander in Afghanistan. U.S. warplanes dropped 3,554 bombs and other munitions in the first 10 months of this year, according to U.S. military statistics.

The new approach is a reversal of President Barack Obama’s strategy.

After U.S. combat forces withdrew in 2014, the Afghan security forces took the lead in combating the Taliban. Obama announced a plan to withdraw most of the remaining advisers from the country by the end of his presidency in 2016. U.S. airstrikes would be mostly limited to defending U.S. troops.

Obama later revised the plan and decided to leave nearly 10,000 U.S. troops in the country, but the sharp drawdown and limits on airpower allowed the Taliban to seize control of some rural areas and inflict heavy casualties on Afghan troops.

David Sedney, a senior Pentagon official under the Obama administration, said one of the reasons he resigned in 2013 was Obama’s decision to draw down most U.S. forces, which he said put American troops at risk without giving them a shot at breaking the stalemate against the Taliban.

“We weren’t winning and we weren’t losing,” Sedney said. “We were still dying.”

Trump’s plan also calls for increasing the number of American advisers and giving them more leeway in accompanying Afghan forces into battle. U.S. advisers will now be able to go with Afghan combat battalions into battle.

The Afghan forces will remain in the lead, but the additional advisers and airstrikes will allow them to prevent further Taliban advances, analysts say. Still, some military experts question whether it will be enough to turn the tide on a war that has frustrated three presidents and dragged on for almost two decades.

“It’s probably enough to make sure the Taliban does not seize and hold major urban areas at least for the foreseeable future,” said Seth Jones, an analyst at RAND Corp. “Whether it’s enough to turn the tide, that’s a harder question.”

A U.S. Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Capt. Andrew P. Ross on Nov. 30, 2018, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Ross, 29, of Lexington, Va., was killed Nov. 27, 2018, by a roadside bomb in Andar, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. PATRICK SEMANSKY, AP

U.S. soldiers patrol at the site of a Taliban suicide attack in Kandahar on Aug. 2, 2017. A Taliban suicide bomber rammed a vehicle filled with explosives into a convoy of foreign forces in Afghanistan's Kandahar province. JAVED TANVEER, AFP/Getty Images

Afghan commando forces patrol on Jan. 3, 2018, during an ongoing U.S.-Afghan military operation against Islamic State militants in Achin district of Nangarhar province in Afghanistan. NOORULLAH SHIRZADA, AFP/Getty Images

Afghan commando forces patrol on Jan. 3, 2018, during an ongoing U.S.-Afghan military operation against Islamic State militants in Achin district of Nangarhar province in Afghanistan. NOORULLAH SHIRZADA, AFP/Getty Images

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis walks with General John Nicholson at the Resolute Support Mission headquarters on an unannounced visit to Kabul, Afghanistan on March 13, 2018.
THOMAS WATKINS, AFP/Getty Images

U.S. soldiers from NATO look on as U.S. flag flies in a checkpoint during a patrol against Islamic State militants at the Deh Bala district in the eastern province of Nangarhar Province in Afghanistan on July 7, 2018. WAKIL KOHSAR, AFP/Getty Images

Tucker Magnuson, 2, of Lacon, says goodbye to his uncle, Sgt. Kenny Steele, right, who is headed out on his fourth tour to Afghanistan, as family and loved ones gather with members of Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 238th Aviation Regiment during a deployment ceremony at the guard's aviation facility near the Gen. Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport on Aug. 24, 2017, in Ill. The unit will fly out for training on their way to deployment in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel. Fred Zwicky, Journal Star via AP

President Donald Trump speaks at Fort Myer in Arlington Va. on Aug. 21, 2017, during a Presidential Address to the Nation about a strategy he believes will best position the U.S. to eventually declare victory in Afghanistan. Carolyn Kaster, AP

An Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Staff Sgt. Aaron R. Butler at Dover Air Force Base, Del. on Aug. 18, 2017. According to the Department of Defense, Butler, of Monticello, Utah, died Aug. 16, in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations. Steve Ruark, AP

In this July 31, 2017 photo, U.S. forces leave after a suicide attack followed by a clash between Afghan forces and Islamic State fighters during an attack on the Iraqi embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 22, 2017. Reversing his past calls for a speedy exit, Trump recommitted the United States to the 16-year-old war in Afghanistan Monday night, declaring U.S. troops must "fight to win." Rahmat Gul, AP

In this Aug. 5, 2015 file photo, an Afghan National Army soldier, left, smokes as a U.S. Army soldier from Charlie Company, 2-14 Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division sits next to him in Camp Khogyani in Nangarhar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan. An uptick in attacks by Afghan National army soldiers against foreign troops would seem a worrisome trend ahead of the deployment of another 4,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan in the latest attempt by Washington to turn around the protracted war against insurgents. Massoud Hossaini, AP

In this May 3 , 2017 file photo, A damaged U.S. military vehicle is pictured at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. In an "open letter" to U.S. President Donald Trump, Afghanistan's Taliban on Tuesday reiterated their call for a withdrawal of troops to end the protracted war. Massoud Hossaini, AP

A handout photo made available on May 2, 2017 by the US Army and taken by US Army combat photographer Spc. Hilda I. Clayton showing an Afghan soldier as a mortar tube accidentally explodes during an Afghan National Army live-fire training exercise in Laghman province, Afghanistan on July 2, 2013. The US Army report on May 2, 2017 that Spc. Hilda I. Clayton, who was assigned to the 55th Signal Company (Combat Camera), 21st Signal Brigade, took the image a moment before she died as the mortar tube accidentally exploded during an Afghan National Army live-fire training exercise in Laghman province. Hilda Clayton, and an Afgahn Army photojournalist died in the blast along with three Afghan soldiers taking part in the mortar training. Clayton's family approved the release of the photographs. Hilda Clayton , US ARMY via European Pressphoto Agency

In this photograph taken on Aug. 30, 2015, US soldiers part of NATO patrol during the final day of a month long anti-Taliban operation by the Afghan National Army (ANA) in various parts of eastern Nangarhar province, at an Afghan National Army base in Khogyani district. President Barack Obama on October 15, 2015 announced thousands of US troops will remain in Afghanistan past 2016, retreating from a major campaign pledge and acknowledging Afghan forces are not ready to stand alone. Noorullah Shirzada, AFP/Getty Images

Soldiers play football in front of the Boardwalk as the sun begins to set at Kandahar airfield on Nov. 12, 2014 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Now that British combat operations have ended and the last UK base in Afghanistan had been handed over to the control of Afghan security forces, any remaining troops are leaving the country via Kandahar. As the drawdown of the US-led coalition troops heads into its final stages, many parts of Kandahar airfield - once home to tens of thousands of soldiers and contractors - are being closed or handed over to the Afghans. Matt Cardy, Getty Images

US soldiers watch as others prepare artillery for wounded veterans to shoot during 'Operation Proper Exit' at Forward Operating Base Shank in Afghanistan's Logar Province on May 28, 2014. Washington is winding down its 32,000 troop deployment in Afghanistan after nearly 13 years of war, with President Barack Obama announcing this week that all US forces will leave by the end of 2016. While an end is now in sight for America's longest war, many of the more than 19,000 Americans wounded in Afghanistan will be coping with injuries for years to come. Brendan Smialowski, AFP/Getty Images

US soldiers and service members with the NATO- led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) eat Christmas dinner at their base in Ghazni province, Afghanistan on Dec. 25, 2013. The commander of NATO forces in eastern Afghanistan spent Christmas visiting U.S. troops at bases across the mountainous region to bring them holiday greetings and gifts for a few lucky soldiers. Rahmat Gul, AP

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A US army flight crew chief Sgt Cory Rodgers, left, from Company C, 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment, MEDEVAC team wipes the face of a wounded US Army soldier on their Blackhawk helicopter over Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan on March 28, 2011. Around 140,000 foreign troops are deployed in Afghanistan within the UN-mandated, NATO-led, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the US-led coalition Operation Enduring Freedom, which overthrew the Taliban in late 2001. Peter Parks, AFP/Getty Images

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French soldiers from the 7th Mountain Infantry Battalion (7eme bataillon de chasseurs alpins BCA) during target practice at a firing range at Forward Operating Base Tagab-Kutschbach near Tagab in Kapisa Province on Jan. 28, 2011. A French soldier from this batallion serving with the NATO-led international coalition in Afghanistan was killed in an insurgent attack was killed in the Alasay valley on Feb. 19, 2011, bringing the French soldiers toll to 54 since 2001. Joel Saget, AFP/Getty Images

In this Nov. 3, 2010 file photo, an Afghan boy watches Cpt. Chris Esrey of Havelock, North Carolina, with India, 3rd Battalion 5th Marines, First Marine Division, company, scan the area during a patrol in Sangin, south of Kabul, Afghanistan. Reversing his past calls for a speedy exit, President Donald Trump recommitted the United States to the 16-year-old war in Afghanistan, declaring on Aug. 21, 2017 U.S. troops must fight to win. He pointedly declined to disclose how many more troops will be dispatched to wage America's longest war. Dusan Vranic, AP

Cpt Jeff Thomasson, commander of 101st Airborne Division Alpha Battery 1-320th, fires a mortar at insurgents from Combat Outpost Nolen as one of his platoons came under Taliban attack on the outskirts of Arghandab valley's Jellawar town on Sept. 9, 2010. The United States and NATO have 150,000 troops in Afghanistan aiming to quell the insurgency that began soon after the Taliban regime was overthrown in a US-led invasion in late 2001. Patrick Baz, AFP/Getty Images

In this March 18, 2010 file photo, U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Mathew Gorzkiewicz, of North Liberty, Indiana, with the First Battalion, Sixth Marine Regiment, Alpha company, tries out an Afghan boy's sling during a patrol in Marjah, Afghanistan. Reversing his past calls for a speedy exit, President Donald Trump recommitted the United States to the 16-year-old war in Afghanistan, declaring on Aug. 21, 2017 U.S. troops must "fight to win". He pointedly declined to disclose how many more troops will be dispatched to wage America's longest war. Dusan Vranic, AP

US marines with 1/3 marine Charlie Company walk in a poppy field in Trikh Nawar, a farmland area on the North Eastern outskirts of Marjah on Feb. 18, 2010. About 15,000 Afghan and NATO troops, led by US Marines, have been battling to wrest control of Marjah district in Helmand province from Taliban militants, who have put up stiff resistance since the operation was launched. Operation Mushtarak ("together" in Dari) is the biggest military push against the Islamists since the Taliban's 1996-2001 regime was overthrown in a US-led invasion. Patrick Baz, AFP/Getty Images

A soldier with the 3/509th of the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division keeps descends from a guard tower at Forward Operating Base Zerok Oct. 7, 2009 in Zerok, Afghanistan. The soldiers at FOB Zerok, which has been attacked repeatedly from the surrounding hostile countryside of Paktika province, keep an extensive 24 hour a day watch from several locations to guard the base. October 7th marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Afghanistan war in 2001; eight years later, thousands of American and international troops are camped out in field bases around the war-torn country. Chris Hondros, Getty Images

U.S. Army Engineer Staff Sgt. Rick Atkinson of Roswell, New Mexico plays with a puppy that soldiers of Forward Operating Base Zerok adopted a few weeks ago Oct. 7, 2009 in Zerok, Afghanistan. Oct. 7th marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Afghanistan war in 2001; eight years later, thousands of American and international troops are camped out in field bases around the war-torn country. Chris Hondros, Getty Images

In this photograph taken on Nov. 20, 2008, US Army soldiers from 2-506 Infantry 101st Airborne Division and Afghan National Army soldiers take positions after running from the back of a UH-47 Chinook helicopter during the launch of Operation Shir Pacha into the Derezda Valley in the Spira mountains in Khost province, on the Pak-Afghan border. Kabul welcomed the US decision to keep thousands of troops in Afghanistan past 2016, vowing to respond to a resurgent Taliban "with full force" even as the rebels promised to wage jihad until the last American soldier leaves. David Furst, AFP/Getty Images

Soldiers carry Afghan and U.S. military flags during a handover ceremony at the main U.S. base at Bagram north of Kabul, Afghanistan on April 10, 2008. The 101st Airborne Division is taking over in Afghanistan, replacing the 82nd Airborne after 15 months in the country. The U.S. now has some 32,000 troops in the country, the most since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Musadeq Sadeq, AP

Soldiers of 4th Battallion 25th Field Artillery Regiment, attached to 10th Mountain Division, observe a few moments' silence in memory of the people who died in the terrorist attack on World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, at an U.S. army base in Nangalam, Afghanistan on Sept. 11, 2006. Saurabh Das, AP

US soldiers bow their heads in tribute to the victims of the 11 September 2001 attacks in the US at a ceremony at Bagram Airbase some 50 kms north of Kabul on Sept. 11, 2003.
Shah Marai, AFP/Getty Images

U.S. soldiers of the 82nd Airborne's 3rd Platoon Bravo Company move into a position during a live fire training on Jan. 9, 2003 at a firing range near the U.S. base in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Kandahar was the stronghold of the Taliban, the rigorously Islamic regime that was ousted from power in late 2001 by a U.S.-led military coalition. Eugene Hoshiko, Associated Press

In this Dec. 31, 2001 file picture, Marines with full battle gear prepare to board transport helicopters at the U.S. military compound at Kandahar airport for a mission to an undisclosed location in Afghanistan. John Moore, AP

An Afghan anti-Taliban fighter looks up at an American B-52 vapor trail during an airstrike on al-Qaida positions in the White Mountains of Afghanistan on Dec 12, 2001. Afghan tribal commanders set a new deadline Wednesday for the surrender of a group of al-Qaida fighters cornered in the mountain canyon under heavy U.S. bombardment, demanding that top terrorist suspects, possibly including Osama bin Laden, also turn themselves in. David Guttenfelder, Associated Press

U.S. Marines run to load their gear as they prepare to fly to a new position somewhere near Kandahar, Afghanistan on Dec. 10, 2001. U.S. Marines moved troops and heavy weapons closer to the fallen Taliban stronghold of Kandahar on Monday to cut off escape routes for Taliban leaders and fighters from Osama bin Laden's terror network. Earnie Grafton, San Diego Union Tribune via AFP

U.S. special forces troops survey the area at the airport near Mazar-e-Sharif, northern Afghanistan on Nov. 29, 2001. Special forces troops worked Thursday to prepare the airport for humanitarian aid flights. Darko Bandic, AP

Master Sgt. Caroline Bearden, an air refueling boom operator from the Alabama Air National Guard's 106th Air Refueling Squadron, plugs in a computer card that replaces the jet's navigator. The card allows the crew of the aircraft to navigate its routing as they re-supply fuel to military aircraft flying missions over Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Master Sgt. Keith Reed, XXX NONE

A US F-14 fighter takes off from the main deck of the USS Enterprise early on Oct. 9, 2001 as a second wave US-led air attacks on Afghanistan was launched with residents of Kabul reporting bombs hitting targets on the outskirts of the city. Rabih Moghrabi, AFP

The increased bombing has also raised concerns about civilian casualties. The United Nations has reported an increase in casualties from bombing, though Nicholson has said the military disagrees with some of the U.N. findings.

The biggest obstacle to success against the Taliban is Pakistan, analysts say. The Taliban’s leadership has sanctuary over the border in Pakistan, and the government in Islamabad hasn’t always shown a willingness to do anything about it.

“The question is the amount of pressure the U.S. is willing to put on Pakistan,” Sedney said.

The U.S. military can’t bomb targets across the border, but it may be able to ramp up attacks on infiltration routes into Pakistan from Afghanistan.

“We're hoping to work together with the Pakistanis going forward to eliminate terrorists who are ... crossing the Durand Line,” Nicholson said, referring to the border between the two countries.